At that moment, under the wailing sound of demonic torment, the Demon King’s Gifted Theater finally ended its very first lesson. The stage lights dimmed until only the trembling, pitch-black infernal music remained—like a heavy shroud of darkness draped across the entire audience.
In the corridor outside the theater—
The long, solemn toll of the ancient bell still pierced through the depths of the hallways, announcing the arrival of the break period.
That sound carried a strange magic of its own, able to ignore thick stone walls, slip through pitch-black corridors, sweep open every classroom’s door and window, and finally echo across the vast, seemingly endless academy.
Now, all demon students of the school would welcome their very first thirty-minute break.
They could use the time to seek out another classroom more to their liking.
Or, while the classroom corridor and the function-zone corridor were temporarily connected during this half-hour, they could spend extra credits at the function zone to skip the next two-hour class.
Huperion dragged Bacher out of the theater and promptly dropped him onto the carpet of the corridor.
Lan Qi, on the other hand, stretched lazily as though he had just walked out of an opera house, still looking eager for more.
“Where are we going next?”Huperion asked.
“Are you hungry?”
Lan Qi tilted his head toward her.
“A little.”
She nodded.
Strangely, she felt as though the two of them had just finished watching a concert together and were now discussing what to do afterward.
“Then let’s grab dinner first, and come back later to keep studying.”
Lan Qi grinned widely.
Completely unlike his “worse-than-death” state back in Ikerite Academy during the day, he was now radiating genuine joy.
“Alright.”
Huperion looked at his energy and thought—if Ikerite Academy’s administrators could see him like this, they would probably fall into deep reflection.
Tiring as it was to tag along with Lan Qi in this demon academy, being his teammate always gave her an odd sense of security.
“But… how is he supposed to lead us now?”
She glanced at the “corpse” of Bacher lying on the ground.
Ever since being pulled out of the theater, he hadn’t been awakened from the torment of the infernal sound.
It was like his power switch had been turned off.
Huperion wasn’t familiar with healing or awakening magic, so she turned to Lan Qi—who might know more.
“Huperion, did you know? There’s a certain medicine that can both put a patient to sleep and wake them up.”
Lan Qi sighed with a smile, his tone that of a weary physician full of benevolence, and gave her a meaningful look.
Huperion frowned, unable to guess what he meant.
And really—how could such a medicine possibly be found quickly in a demon academy?
But then she followed his gaze downward.
And saw—
Lan Qi was staring at her fist.
“…”
Huperion felt that if she kept playing along with him, her karmic merit was about to run out.
“Come now, Huperion, quickly use your magic to wake him up.”
Lan Qi said cheerfully.
She only dared nod silently, not speaking, afraid her goddess might overhear.
And so, like a doctor and nurse working together, the two began their “treatment” of Bacher.
Finally, amid his screams, Bacher was awakened once more.
…
“I must say, your vitality is truly remarkable.”
Lan Qi spoke with the reverence of a saint admiring life itself, gazing at the revived Bacher with delight.
“H-How… how did you wake me up?”
Bacher clutched his pounding head, as though he had lost a piece of memory.
Even awake, his body and spirit still felt mired in some endless swamp.
“I’m a healing-type demon. Of course I had a way.”
Lan Qi’s radiant, holy-yet-unnerving demon form shone as though bathed in heavenly light, offering Bacher salvation.
“I… I feel something’s off. What exactly happened in that classroom…?”
Bacher muttered uncertainly.
He was sure he’d had a long nightmare—one where a gray-haired demon, surrounded by swirling black mist of demonic sound, had trapped him in an inescapable hell of suffering!
“Don’t dwell on illusions like that. They were hallucinations. You can tell reality from dreams, can’t you? Here—check your pocket.”
Lan Qi hinted.
Bacher reached into his pocket—and found two credit coins.
Rewards from the Director for passing the exam.
Since he had been unconscious at the time, the Director had simply placed them directly in his pocket.
Staring at the three black-gold coins glowing faintly red, Bacher was stunned. It felt like he had just stepped from nightmare into dream.
The very first class had only just ended, and he had already earned three credits!
Something he’d never dared imagine before.
“Well? Do you believe now that it was all just a sweet dream?”
Lan Qi asked with a bright smile.
Seeing Bacher’s happiness filled him with satisfaction too.
“So… where should we go next?”
Bacher’s pain seemed to vanish all at once. He jumped to his feet, brushed dust from his clothes, and asked eagerly.
“Bacher, take us to that branch of the Demon King’s Gifted Restaurant you mentioned.”
Earlier, Lan Qi had heard him talk about a famously expensive restaurant within the school that offered the highest-grade delicacies of the Demon Realm.
Some dishes were even limited-supply items said to enhance one’s attributes for a day.
Lan Qi felt he ought to savor the finest cuisine of this era of the Demon Realm—so he could share the experience with his dear old Talia back in the mortal world, maybe even edit footage from the [Shadow World Recording Program] into a feature for her.
It was the only thing he could do for his homesick Talia.
“The Demon King’s Gifted Restaurant…”
But when Bacher heard the destination, hesitation flickered in his eyes.
“What’s wrong? Isn’t the function zone supposed to be safe?”
“It’s safe… but that area is where only the richest students spend their credits. And the ones who frequent it are among the most dangerous students in the academy. If you’re not someone of reputation and take up the resources they enjoy, you’ll likely earn their hatred…”
Bacher warned nervously.
Though relatively safe, the function zone was also the domain of the academy’s most powerful demons—something he dreaded to face.
“I see.”
Lan Qi reached into his pocket, took out the teaching badge given to him by the Music Department Head, and pinned it proudly to his chest.
“But I’m a teacher now.”
“???”
Bacher’s eyes widened at the sight of the exquisite badge.
So the radiant demon he’d been following all this time had actually been a teacher—
skipping between teaching duties and blowing up classrooms for fun?